12.1
One who holds self dear must guard it well.
Of the three night watches,
one should be spent wide awake.
12.2
Become established in virtue yourself
before preaching to others.
In this way, the sage avoids error.
12.3
Whatever you preach to others
do accordingly yourself.
Self-mastery is not easy.
12.4
Only the self can save the self.
What other savior could there be?
When self and savior are one,
self-mastery is accomplished.
12.5
The evil you do is yours alone.
It is born of you, enacted by you.
Evil grinds the ignorant
like a diamond grinds a weaker stone.
12.6
The evil you do spreads over you,
like a parasitic vine choking a tree.
The ignorant bring upon themselves
what only their worst enemies might wish for them.
12.7
Doing what is wrong and harmful to oneself
comes naturally.
Doing what is right and beneficial takes effort.
12.8
The ignorant man, who clings to delusion
and mocks the teaching of Dhamma,
is destroyed by the outcome of his ignorance,
like a reed that dies when its fruit ripens.
12.9
It is you who commits evil,
and you who are defiled by it.
It is you who abstains from evil and are purified.
Purity and defilement are in your hands.
No one can purify another.
12.10
Do not abandon self-purpose
for the purpose of another
no matter how great it seems.
When you perceive self-purpose,
devote yourself wholly to it.